Day 12: Today Was a Hard Day

Trump announces a ceasefire agreement. One that clearly, neither Israel or the IRCG had agreed too.There were no official statements from Israel, and Khamenei made it clear he wasn’t on board. When it became clear that this was in fact happening at 7:00am, Israel went into overdrive. If this is really the end, we better get in as much as we can. Dozens of strikes were launched deep inside Iran - and apparently, Iran had the same idea. Just as the ceasefire was supposed to take effect around 7 a.m., Iran fired multiple barrages of missiles at us.

One of them hit a residential building in Be’er Sheva. Four people were killed. A soldier, his girlfriend, his mum. The pictures are devastating. It felt like a last-minute blow - Iran taking one final hit before things supposedly calmed down. 

And then at 10 a.m., Iran fired again - two more missiles. This wasn’t about strategy. It felt like a test. Like they were pushing to see how Israel would respond. Would we hit back? Would we escalate?

Israel did try to respond - or at least prepared to. Planes were reportedly in the air. But instead of backing us, Trump gave a press conference and lashed out at Israel, using language that was far from friendly. He basically said we have no idea what we’re doing and insisted we stop all military activity. And that was that. Israel pulled back. We did one symbolic strike, but it was minimal. The planes returned home.

The Israeli government then publicly announced that we have accomplished all our war goals and the war with Iran is now behind us.

But we haven't. What the heck is going on?

What Were the War Goals?

Let’s take a step back.

Israel went into this war with two very clear objectives:

1. Eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat.

2. Take out Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities.

Trump had his own set of war goals:

1. Also eliminate the nuclear threat.

2. But second - end the war as quickly as possible. Why? Because his critics were accusing him of dragging America into another endless conflict. So he needed a short, sharp success to shut them down.

And that’s where the problem lies. Israel and America weren’t aligned on the second goal. From Trump’s perspective, once the nukes were dealt with, the mission was complete. From Israel’s perspective, that was only half the job.

Don't get me wrong - the nukes are one hell of an achievement. But for life in Israel, knowing Iran can just fire randomly at civilians with no repercussions and that Khameini is still at large, that's not so comforting. And its drastic too. “The 12 Day War” as coined by Trump has thrown us for a loop. Tomorrow everything opens as usual. As if this whole enormous life altering experience didn't just happen. People are still trying to evacuate through Jordan, drones are still being fired at us as I write this and we just sit here, accepting this because of Trump's political needs (did you hear he has been nominated for a nobel peace prize for this? And yes, Tucker Carlson apologized to him as well). 

I'm not for it. I'm not for Israel being bullied by the US and I'm not for Netanyahu not standing up for us. I know there is more going on behind the scenes, but on a simple surface analysis, this has left most Israelis feeling very very very uneasy.

Let me be clear, we won the war. But we have not finished it. 

Trump is our ally. I have no doubts about that. But US needs will always come first, and that's something that will burn the people of Israel if we are not careful. Underpendicizing from them has never been more urgent. Never.

Whilst yesterday it felt that Netanyahu was the king of the world, that excitement feels like years ago.  My hope is that there is something bigger up their sleeves. That this is another play on the media. That we have more amazing things coming up. But for now I'm feeling confused like all the Israelis I know. 

As always. When confused, I ask myself why this is happening in this way. 

To me, the answer is simple.

We became too dependent on our leaders. Yes we thanked GD, but we had too much faith in man. 

God reminds us. He is the one in control. Not Trump, Not Netanyahu. 

Let us not forget. We have experienced miracles upon miracles upon miracles. Nothing short of biblical times. So it's taken a turn we dont quite love. He can make Iran go away in a day if he wants too and that is where our focus should be.

On that note, I wish you all a sleepful night, for the first time in twelve nights.

Meira

What Else Is Going On?

 Operation Rising Lion

• Israel’s final pre-ceasefire strike in Tehran killed hundreds of Basij and IRGC forces; senior commanders were among them.

• Israel struck a radar site near Tehran in response to ceasefire violations. Attacks halted after Netanyahu spoke with Trump.

• Chief of Staff Zamir: Iranian nuclear and missile programs set back by years, but IDF is refocusing on Gaza.

• Three Israelis killed in an Iranian missile strike on Be’er Sheva identified: Michal Zacks, her son Eitan Zacks (IDF), and Noa Bogoslavsky.

Other Fronts

• Gaza: Qatar says Iran war delayed ceasefire talks with Hamas, hopes to resume within days.

• Lebanon: 3 Hezbollah members killed in Israeli strike.

• Yehuda & Shomron: 2 IEDs found and neutralized in Yatta.

• Yemen: Houthis vow to keep attacking Israel despite ceasefire with Iran.

Other News

• Home Front Command lifts national restrictions; schools and transport expected to fully reopen.

• School reopenings will vary by city. Be’er Sheva schools reopen Thursday.

• Israeli airlines are expanding airlift to bring citizens home post-ceasefire.

• Yair Lapid praises Iran strike, urges diplomatic deal to stop Iran’s nukes and calls for focus on hostages.

• Zion Miara, husband of AG Baharav-Miara, has passed away.

• Trump: No regime change in Iran; focus is on preventing nukes.

• Iran’s ambassador to Qatar reprimanded over U.S. base attack.

• NATO countries agree to increase defense spending following Trump’s demands; NATO summit begins in Netherlands.

• Shekel strengthens sharply; dollar rate drops to 3.4 NIS — lowest in 2 years.